Casuaw dating or a casuaw rewationship is a physicaw and emotionaw rewationship between two peopwe who may have casuaw sex or a near-sexuaw rewationship widout necessariwy demanding or expecting de extra commitments of a more formaw romantic rewationship. Motives for casuaw rewationships vary.[1] There are significant gender and cuwturaw differences in acceptance of and breadf of casuaw rewationships,[2][3][4][5] as weww as in regrets about action/inaction in dose rewationships.[6]

Casuaw dating may be part-time, or for a wimited time. It may or may not entaiw partner-excwusivity. In each case, de rewationship's dominance in de wives of dose invowved is being vowuntariwy wimited, and dere is usuawwy a sense dat de rewationship is intended to endure onwy so wong as bof parties wish it to. Casuaw rewationships sometimes incwude mutuaw support, affection and enjoyment, which underpin oder forms of woving rewationship.[7]

A casuaw rewationship is sometimes referred to as a "no strings attached" rewationship.

A "no strings attached" rewationship is most commonwy found in young aduwts such as cowwege students. The shift from chiwdhood to aduwdood brings on much expworation in different fiewds. One of dese fiewds incwude rewationships and sex.[8] This is de time in wife where mastery of future wife skiwws is attempted.[8] Grewwo's study suggests dat, in most cases, de same students who wost deir virginity in high schoow wost dem in a romantic rewationship.[8] After experiencing sexuaw intercourse, many cowwege students go on to have casuaw sex wif eider friends or peers dey have been recentwy or newwy acqwainted wif.[8]

A study pubwished by de Archives of Sexuaw Behavior reported dat sixty percent of cowwege students have participated in a casuaw rewationship. Wayne State University and Michigan State University conducted a simiwar survey and sixty-six percent of de undergraduates in dis study said dey had awso been in a casuaw rewationship. About hawf of dis sixty-six percent said dey were currentwy in such a rewationship.[9]

A casuaw rewationship, unwike a romantic rewationship, is very undefined and it is difficuwt to ascribe norms, scripts, and expectations to it.[10] Rebecca Pwante, an associate professor at Idaca Cowwege, has speciawized in research on casuaw rewationships, and says dat dis type of rewationship can be beneficiaw. Casuaw rewationships can estabwish a "heawdy outwet for sexuaw needs and desires."[10]

J.A. Lee, audor of Love Stywes in de R.J Sternberg & M.L. Barnes: The psychowogy of wove journaw, has come up wif two main types of wovers for cowwege aged young aduwts. They are "Eros" wovers who are passionate wovers and "Ludas" or "Ludic" wovers, which are game-pwaying wovers.[11] "Eros" wovers are wovers dat are often struck by "Cupid's Arrow". They often faww head over heews at de first sight of a potentiaw rewationship. "Eros" faww in wove wif de physicaw attributes of anoder before any oder characteristic. This type of wover is awso known to commit to oder casuaw sex rewationships.[11] Because physicaw attributes are de main reason for attraction, it is very hard to furder a reaw romantic rewationship.[8] "Ludic" wovers are out for de game. They are wooking for de feewing of conqwest and typicawwy enter a rewationship or hook-up wif very wittwe or no intentions of estabwishing any kind of commitment. They, in most cases, wiww have more dan one sexuawwy active partner at a given time. They awso find it very hard to picture a rewationship getting serious.[11] Wif bof of dese types of wovers being open to having more dan one sexuaw partner, it hewps expwain why many cowwege students participate in casuaw rewationships.[8]

Many casuaw rewationships estabwish guidewines or a set of ruwes. The two participants in de rewationship wiww reach an agreement about what each expects from de rewationship. Anoder major concern is dat one of de partners wiww devewop romantic feewings for de oder.[12] Communication between de two partners is essentiaw to making dis type of rewationship work and because de partners in de casuaw rewationship are often friends beforehand, tawking to one anoder is a much simpwer task.[12]

Casuaw rewationships, being a mix between a friendship and a non-romantic sexuaw rewationship, resuwt in de partners facing many chawwenges in maintaining a working rewationship. Based on de exchange deory, Hughes witnessed an individuaw dependency on eider partner as de exchange of resources, knowwedge, rewards, and costs of items, becomes more and more prominent.[13] The partners may become dependent on advice de oder partner gives, or de company dey receive when being around one anoder. This may be a one-way street and one partner may not feew dis way.[13] Any partner dat is not fuwwy dependent upon de oder typicawwy controws de casuaw rewationship. The dependent partner is more submissive to deir dominant partner as dey do not want de rewationship to end.[13] This awwows de wess dependent partner to be abwe to fix and maintain de rewationship de way he/she wants it to be. They normawwy controw when dey meet up, when dey have sex, and when dey do dings togeder.[13]

Many students share de same concerns when it came to beginning a casuaw rewationship wif a person who was awready deir friend. Bisson and Levine found dat dere were four main worries.[9]

Romantic feewings wouwd occur: 65.3% of students were afraid one or bof of de participants wouwd estabwish romantic feewings for de oder.[9]

Hurting de friendship: 28.2% were worried dat de friendship dat was awready estabwished wouwd be harmed.[9]

Hughes's study awso reveawed de four main categories of why partners participating in a casuaw rewationship did not feew de need to teww deir same sex friends about de rewationship. The first category was dat de partners did not feew dat deir same sex friends needed to know dis information, uh-hah-hah-hah.[13] The second category consisted of peopwe wanting to keep de casuaw rewationship a secret and didn't want deir same sex friends to know.[13] The feewing of embarrassment was de dird category. Many students said dat dey wouwd feew ashamed or didn't want to be judged by deir same sex friends.[13] The finaw category is students who didn't want to teww deir same sex friends because dey wouwd show disapprovaw of de rewationship.[13]

A traditionaw stereotype of heterosexuaw casuaw rewationships in cowwege is dat de men initiate de sexuaw activity.[14] Anoder stereotype is dat men are more sexuawwy active and women wink sex wif romance. This is not true aww de time, especiawwy in cowwege students.[14] A study conducted by Pauw and her team suggests dat when it comes to gender participation, dere are just as many women initiating dese rewationships.[14] Pressure from friends and oder sociaw means may persuade cowwege students to participate in a casuaw rewationship or "hook-up" regardwess of deir gender.[14]

Cowwege and university campuses are often characterised by de amount of drinking or partying dat goes on dere.[14] However, campuses can awso be characterized by how sexuawwy permissive de students are and awso de types of sexuaw activity prevawent (intercourse, oraw, anaw) wif one or muwtipwe partners.[14] Being pwaced in an environment of awready sexuawwy active students can put pressure on oder students to be sexuawwy active as weww.[14]

The environment dat students are pwaced in often pways a rowe in wheder or not dey feew pressured into finding a casuaw rewationship. The cowweges and universities known for a warger awcohow consumption by deir students seem to awso have a warger number of students participating in casuaw rewationships.[14] Researchers have struggwed wif de idea dat de "perceived disinhibitory function" weads to de reason for increased sexuaw activity.[14]

Whiwe providing a sexuaw outwet, de practice of casuaw sex often carries negative connotations. In some sexuaw rewationships among teenagers in de U.S., de predominant activity is not penetrative sex, but rader oraw sex and mutuaw masturbation, as dis reduces de risks associated wif sexuaw promiscuity, such as pregnancy and sexuawwy transmitted diseases. Some medicaw audorities – such as Bonnie Hawpern-Fewsher, a professor of pediatrics – suggest dat teenagers do not view oraw sex as "reaw sex" and use it to remain in a state of "technicaw" virginity.[17]

A common factor found in many studies on casuaw sex is dat sexuaw intercourse occurs widin a rewationship between two partners dat have no commitment towards one anoder. Casuaw sex presents itsewf as wess risky dan random sexuaw intercourse because of your prior knowwedge of de partner you are having sexuaw intercourse wif.[14] When participating in casuaw sex, you are more wikewy to know your partner (on a more personaw wevew) dan a partner you just have a "one night stand" wif.[14]

According to cwinicaw psychowogist Caderine Grewwo, "awcohow consumption appears to have a direct wink wif casuaw sex."[8] The more awcohow dat is invowved de higher de possibiwity of a casuaw rewationship forming. Bof mawe and femawe cowwege students are more wikewy to engage in sexuaw activity whiwe intoxicated.[8] Consumption of awcohow increases de perceptions of attraction between partners which weads to sexuaw activity at a much higher rate. Awso, wif intoxication, wow sewf-esteem and symptoms of depression may be adding factors to increase de chances to engage in dis type of rewationship or sexuaw activity.[8]